Inlet control for escape appliance



Oct. 22, 1963 J. J. MELLON, JR., ETAL 3,107,373

INLET CONTROL FOR ESCAPE APPLIANCE Filed Jan. 25, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 1963 J. J. MELLON, JR., ETAL 3,107,373

INLET CONTROL FOR ESCAPE APPLIANCE Filed Jan. 25, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 \II V INVEN R5. Jwm/JMam/v E. BYFZ 700,44 d" Eda/1.0774

MMQMW United States Patent Navy Filed Jan. 25, 1963, Ser. No. 254,029 4 (Zlaims. (Ci. 9-613) (Granted under Title 35, U.S. Code (1952), see. 266) The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government of the United States of America for governmental purposes without the payment of any royalties thereon or therefor.

This invention relates to escape devices useful by submarine personnel in safely escaping to the surface of the sea from submerged submarines, and by others in making safe ascents to the surface in water or the sea from great depths. Escape devices have been developed in which an inflatable escape preserver is confined to the chest of the wearer, and has a portion that fits around his neck, with a hood enclosing the head of the wearer and secured tothe preserver around such neck portion, and with one or more pressure relief valve controlled passages connecting the interior of the hood and preserver, so that as the inflating air in the preserver expands during an ascent, it can escape through the hood to supply air for normal breathing by the wearer while maintaining air pressure in the preserver at a selected excess over that in the hood. These preservers are commonly inflated just before the ascent with air from a high pressure line where the air is supplied at a pressure commonly varying from about 100 lbs./sq./in. to 400 lbs./sq./in., and where the desired initial inflation pressure in the preserver is around four or lbs./sq./in. Heretofore the preserver connection to the inflating air line had a relatively large passage so that the inflating air from the high pressure line could enter the chamber of the preserver much faster than it could escape into and through the hood through the pressure relief valve controlled passages. A person wearing the preserver and about to make an ascent, in inflating the preserver casing may disconnect the inflating air line from the preserver too soon before the preserver is fully inflated, or not soon enough in which latter happening the preserver may be over inflated at a pressure that may damage or rupture the preserver casing. The person making the ascent is usually too excited and hurried to obtain the proper degree of inflation of the preserver without danger of serious damage to it, due to excessive internal air pressures.

An object of the invention is to provide a preserver of this type with which the danger of its over or under inflation is avoided, with which damage to an escape preserver during its inflation is effectively prevented, which is automatic in action without any operation or control by the wearer, which does not materially increase the weight or size of the preserver, and which is practical, dependable and relatively simple and inexpensive.

Other objects and advantages will appear from the following description of one example of the invention, and the novel features will be particularly pointed out in connection with the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective of an escape device constructed in accordance with this invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional elevation of the flow control element of FIG. 1, but on a scale of 1 /2 size and detached from the escape casing;

FIG. 3 is a plan of the same;

FIG. 4 is a side elevation, in full size scale, of the coupling and check valve as fixed in the escape casing, to which the flow control element is connected; and

3,107,373 Patented Oct. 22, 1963 FIG. 5 is a plan of the coupling and check valve detached from the casing.

In the illustrated embodiment of the invention, a standard or any suitable submarine life-jacket or preserver 1 is the foundation to which the improved apparatus is attached. Such a preserver is identified, for example, in Military Specification MILE-l6433D(Ships) dated June 21, 1959. This preserver includes an inflatable casing Z of textile material, having a liner of nylon fabric, coated with an elastomeric material such as neoprene. This casing is laregly confined to the front of the wearers chest by having at one end an aperture (not shown) through which the head of the wearer may be passed when the casing is deflated, and having straps 3 and 4 attached to the lower part of the casing and passing around the body of the wearer.

A hood 5 surrounds the head of the wearer and is attached, such as by a zipper 6, to the casing 2 entirely around the opening thereof through which the wearers head passed. This hood has a transparent window 7' in front of the face of the wearer to enable the wearer to observe his surroundings. A suitable valve controlled snorkel 8, only the tube of which is shown, leads to the interior of the hood to enable the wearer to breath until he starts his ascent in the sea. Within the part of the casing covered by the hood, the casing has two pressure relief valves 9 and 10 which pass air from the interior of the casing into the hood when the air pressure in the casing exceeds that in the hood by a selected pressure differential by which these pressure relief valves are set to open. This pressure differential is quite small, varying usually from about 1 /2 lbs./sq./in. (p.s.i.) to about 4 psi. The casing may have a tube 11 secured to it and opening into the interior of the casing, the other free end of the tube having a free check valve (not shown) which opens freely to pass air through the tube into the casing and normally prevent escape of air from the casing through the tube. The free end of the tube has a ferrule 12 which is pushable in a direction endwise along the tube to mechanically open the check valve within the tube and release pressure in the casing when the wearer desires to deflate the casing in order to remove it. This tube 11 so made is commonly used to inflate and deflate casings of life preservers, and hence is not further illustrated or described. The tube is of a length to reach the mouth of the wearer, when the hood is lifted, and enable inflation of the casing by blowing into the free end of the tube, in cases where no air supply under pressure is available.

On the front of the casing, near its lower end, a flow control element 13 is attached. This element (FIGS. 2

and 3) is formed of a hexagonally shaped body 14 having a tubular arm 15 extending laterally therefrom. The body 14 has an angular passage 16 therein, one end of which at the open end of the body 14 is internally threaded at 17 for attachment to the inflatable casing, in a manner explained later herein, and the other end of which passage opens into a relatively small or restricted passage 18 that extends through said arm 15. This passage 18 at the free end of the arm 15 is enlarged as at '19.

Referring next to FIGS. 4 and 5, afree check valve is incorporated in a molded casing 20 which has a broad outwardly tapered flange 21 and :a flat face 22. This flat face abuts against and is cemented or bonded to the inside of the wall 2 of the casing in any suitable manner. A tubular me-tal member 23 which is externally threaded, has a flanged end 24 (FIG. 5) molded inthe casing 20, and it upstands from the flat face 22 and passes through an aperture in the wall 2 of casing 1. This member has a central passage 25 (FIG. 5) which leads to the check valve (not shown) that is molded in the casing 29, and at the other side of the check valve the passage terminates 3 in a plurality of ports 26 (FIG. 4) arranged around the bottom of casing 20. The casing wall 2, in the example shown, is formed of a flexible textile fabric layer 27 lined on its inside face with an air impervious elastic layer 28 of elastomeric material such as elastic neoprene. One example of such a check valve in casing 20 is disclosed in greater detail in Military Specification MILV8883, but any flat check valve construction that may be secured against the inside face of a wall 2 of the inflatable casing with a stem 23 extending outwardly may be employed.

The element 13 is attached to the casing 1 by threading it over the stem 23, with the threads 17 engaged with the externally threaded stem 23, and with a washer 29 engage against the shoulder 39 at the inner end of the threads 17. A set screw 31 is threaded through a side of body 14 to engage with the external threads on the stem of member 23. An air line hose 32 (FIG. 1) supplying air under pressure may be detachably connected to the free end of arm 15 to supply air to the casing to inflate it.

The cross-sectional area of passage 18 is relatively small so as to limit its flow capacity for the inflating air passed from the source through the air line hose 32 to the interior of casing 2. This flow capacity of passage 32 should not materially exceed and preferably is somewhat less than the total flow capacity of all of the pressure relief valves 9 and 10 that pass air from the interior of casing 2 into the hood. The purpose of this relationship of flow capacities is to prevent air from the high pressure air from the high pressure air supply line 32 entering the casing 2 materially faster than air can escape from the interior of casing 2 into the hood through the pressure relief valves 9 and 10. Preferably the flow capacity of passage 18 should be a little less than the combined plan capacities of the relief valves 9 and 10, so that the wearer, in his excitement as he is about to make an escape or ascent, cannot leave the air supply line connected too long and materially over-inflate the casing 2 and possibly rupture or damage it. The wearer does not have to watch closely the inflation rate for casing 2, nor time the duration of the inflation, to be certain that the casing 2 is neither underinflated or overinflated. The desired air inflation pressure in the casing 2 is customarily around 2 to 5 lbs./ sq./ in. whereas the inlet air line pressure in submarines is usually at least about 100 lbs./sq./in. and may be as high as 400 lbs./sq./in. or more. With this high pressure differential between the :air supply line and the interior of the casing 2, it will be understood that if air is supplied to the casing 2 at too high a rate, it will be difficult for the wearer to obtain just the right degree of inflation of the casing and may disconnect the air supply line too soon and have underinfiation, or disconnect it too late with overinflation that may damage or rupture the casing, which last happening might prevent a safe ascent or escape since time may not permit an opportunity to change escape devices. By having the fiow capacity of passage 18 just about equal to, or slightly less than, the combined flow capacities of the pressure relief valves 9 and 19, the casing 2 cannot be overinflated and danger of underinflation is avoided since the supply line can safely be left connected to the casing 2 for a longer time than necessary to just inflate the casing, which makes accurate timing of the period of inflation of the casing unnecessary. As an example, the flow capacity relationship should not result in an air pressure within the casing 2 exceeding about 5 1bs./sq./in. when the air pressure line is about 400 lbs./sq./in.

We claim:

1. An escape appliance useful by submarine personnel in escaping from submerged submarines, which comprises an inflatable life preserver of a size and shape to surround and fit the neck of a wearer and extend downwardly along his chest and having an inflatable interior chamber, means carried by the prescrver for anchoring that part thereof which extends along the chest to the body of the wearer, a closed hood attached tightly to such preserver around the portion thereof which surrounds the neck of the wearer and having a closed, clear viewing window in its front, said hood having a chamber of a size and shape to loosely surround the head of a wearer, said prcserver having passage means from its interior into the chamber of the hood and controlled by pressure relief valve means for passing air from the preservcr into the chamber of said hood whenever the air pressure in the prescrvcr exceeds that in the hood by a selected pressure, said preserver also having a check valve controlled inflating conduit opening into its said inflating chamber the passage of which conduit has a flow capacity less than the flow capacity of said pressure relief valve means, whereby dangerous overinflation of said preserver may be avoided.

2. In a device to aid a wearer in safely ascending from a submerged position in a sea, of the type having a closed, hollow, buoyant, collapsible member that may be filled with air under pressure and inflated, and having a minor portion of a size and shape for surrounding and fitting the neck of the wearer, and a major portion of a size and shape to extend along and against the chest of the wearer, means by which said member may be confined against the body of the wearer with the said major portion against the chest of the wearer and the said minor portion around the neck of the wearer, a closed hood attached to and extending upwardly from said memher around the neck and head of the wearer and having a transparent window in front of the face of the wearer, pressure relief valve means carried by the said member connecting the interior of said member to the interior of said hood, for passing air from said member into said hood in excessive of a predetermined pressure differential between said member and said hood, and inflating conduit means connected to the interior of said member through which air under pressure may be admitted to the interior of said member to inflate it, that improvement in said conduit means characterized by a bore section therein with a flow capacity less than approximately the flow capacity of said pressure relief valve means whereby dangerous overinflation of said member may be avoided.

3. In a device to aid a person in safely ascending to the surface of the sea from great depths below the surface of the sea, of the type having a closed, hollow, collapsible member that may be inflated with air under pressure, J

means for detachably confining said member to a person intending to make such ascent, a closed hood of a size and shape to be worn around and substantially enclose the head of such person, pressure relief, valve controlled passage means connecting the interiors of said hood and member and passing air from the interior of said member to the interior of said hood, and a check valve controlled conduit connected to the interior of said member through which inflating air under pressure may be supplied to said member to inflate it, that improvement in said valve controlled conduit which comprises said conduit having a bore therein, through which the inflating air passes to enter said member, with a flow capacity not greatly exceeding the flow capacity of said pressure relief valve controlled passage means, whereby dangerous overinflation to said member may be avoided.

4. The device according to claim 3, wherein said bore of said conduit has less flow capacity than the total flow capacity of said pressure relief, valve controlled passage means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,080,586 Steinke Mar. 12, 1963 

3. IN A DEVICE TO AID A PERSON IN SAFELY ASCENDING TO THE SURFACE OF THE SEA FROM GREAT DEPTHS BELOW THE SURFACE OF THE SEA, OF THE TYPE HAVING A CLOSED, HOLLOW, COLLAPSIBLE MEMBER THAT MAY BE INFLATED WITH AIR UNDER PRESSURE MEANS FOR DETACHABLY CONFINING SAID MEMBER TO A PERSON INTENDING TO MAKE SUCH ASCENT, A CLOSED HOOD OF A SIZE AND SHAPE TO BE WORN AROUND AND SUBSTANTIALLY ENCLOSE THE HEAD OF SUCH PERSON, PRESSURE RELIEF, VALVE CONTROLLED PASSAGE MEANS CONNECTING THE INTERIORS OF SAID HOOD AND MEMBER AND PASSING AIR FROM THE INTERIOR OF SAID MEMBER TO THE INTERIOR OF SAID HOOD, AND A CHECK VALVE CONTROLLED CONDUIT CONNECTED TO THE INTERIOR OF SAID MEMBER THROUGH WHICH INFLATING AIR UNDER PRESSURE MAY BE SUPPLIED TO SAID MEMBER TO INFLATE IT, THAT IMPROVEMENT IN SAID VALVE CONTROLLED CONDUIT WHICH COMPRISE SAID CONDUIT HAVING A BORE THEREIN, THROUGH WHICH THE INFLATING AIR PASSES TO ENTER SAID MEMBER, WITH A FLOW CAPACITY NOT GREATLY EXCEEDING THE FLOW CAPACITY OF SAID PRESSURE RELIEF VALVE 